Psych 207 - Module 9: Language & Cognition

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14 Terms

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Two Aspects of Language - Arbitrary/Generative

  1. Arbitrary (Symbolic)

  • Definition:

    • Words are symbols with no inherent link to what they represent.

    • Example: The word “dog” has no natural connection to the animal; it’s just agreed upon.

  1. Generative (Creative)

  • Definition:

    • Language allows infinite new combinations of words to create new ideas, sentences, or songs.

    • Example: You can say a sentence that has never been spoken before.

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5 Levels of Language Structure

  • Phoneme: Smallest sound unit (e.g., /m/ vs. /c/).

  • Morpheme: Smallest meaning unit (e.g., cat + s).

  • Syntax: Rules for word order and sentence structure.

  • Pragmatics: Social rules & context of communication.

  • Semantics: Meaning of words and sentences.

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Phonemes

  • Definition: Smallest unit of sound that can change meaning.

  • Key Points:

    • Learning new phonemes is often hardest part of learning a language.

    • Some phoneme combinations are illegal in a language, and we notice violations instantly.

  • Example:

    • /b/ vs. /p/ → “bat” vs. “pat”

    • “tl” at the start of a word is illegal in English.

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Morphemes

  • Definition: Smallest unit of meaning in a language.

  • Key Points:

    • Many morphemes are words, but not all.

    • Prefixes, suffixes, tense markers count as morphemes.

  • Examples:

    • “studied”stud + y (2 morphemes)

    • “redoing”re + do + ing (3 morphemes)

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Syntax

  • Definition: Rules for arranging words in sentences.

  • Key Points:

    • English is SVO (Subject-Verb-Object).

    • We have implicit understanding of syntax that goes beyond what we can explain.

    • Syntax ≠ meaning → grammatically correct sentences can still be meaningless.

  • Example:

    • “The cat chased the dog” → syntactically correct

    • “Dog the chased cat the” → incorrect

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Semantics

  • Definition: The meaning of words and sentences.

  • Key Points:

    • Explains why some sentences are syntactically correct but meaningless.

    • Important elements:

      • Anomaly: Sentence is syntactically correct but makes no sense. Words don’t logically go together in meaning.

        • eg. “Coffee ice cream can take dictation”

      • Contradiction: Grammatically correct, but semantically false.Dogs are animals → sentence violates real-world knowledge

        • eg. “My dog is not an animal”

      • Ambiguity: “The chicken is ready to eat” (Two possible meanings)

      • Synonym: Two sentences or phrases have the same meaning. You are too young” = “You are not old enough”

      • Entailment: If one sentence is true, another must also be true. Pat is my uncle” → implies Pat is male

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Comprehending Speech

  • Naive view:

    • Comprehension = perceive and identify every phoneme & morpheme and where they start and end.

  • Problem:

    1. Speech is continuous → there are no clear breaks between words in natural speech.

    2. Coarticulation:

      • A phoneme’s sound changes depending on surrounding phonemes.

      • Example: The /p/ in “pin” vs. “spin” sounds slightly different.

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Theory of Language Processing

Our language processing system:

  • Forces continuous sound into discrete categories → maps onto the phonemes of our language.

  • Explains why we can understand speech despite variability in how sounds are produced.

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Speech Errors

  • Common in language production and follow predictable patterns:

    1. Phoneme exchanges:

      • Example: “You have hissed my mystery lectures” instead of “missed my history lectures.”

    2. Morpheme exchanges:

      • Example: “He has already trunked two packs” instead of “packed two trunks.”

  • Key Insight:

    • Errors respect language rules → our brain organizes speech using phonemes & morphemes, showing the system is rule-governed.

    • Only phonemes moved, but the structure stayed legal → you didn’t produce an impossible word.

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Language Development & Aphasias

Comprehension develops before production → Babies understand words before they can speak.

Aphasia = Impairment of language comprehension or production

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Broca’s Aphasia (Expressive Aphasia)

  • Location: Damage to Broca’s area in frontal lobe, left hemisphere.

  • Symptoms:

    • Halting, effortful, agrammatic speech (broken sentences).

    • Can express meaning with nouns & verbs, but function words and syntax impaired.

    • Good comprehension, but poor production.

  • Example:

    • Want to say: “The dog chased the boy”

    • Might say: “Dog… chase… boy.”

  • Extra Difficulty:

    • Struggles with syntax-dependent comprehension (e.g., “The boy was bitten by the dog”).

<ul><li><p>Location: Damage to Broca’s area in frontal lobe, left hemisphere.</p></li><li><p>Symptoms:</p><ul><li><p>Halting, effortful, agrammatic speech (broken sentences).</p></li><li><p>Can express meaning with nouns &amp; verbs, but function words and syntax impaired.</p></li><li><p>Good comprehension, but poor production.</p></li></ul></li><li><p>Example:</p><ul><li><p>Want to say: “The dog chased the boy”</p></li><li><p>Might say: “Dog… chase… boy.”</p></li></ul></li><li><p>Extra Difficulty:</p><ul><li><p>Struggles with syntax-dependent comprehension (e.g., “The boy was bitten by the dog”).</p></li></ul></li></ul><p></p>
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Wernicke’s Aphasia (Receptive Aphasia)

  • Location: Damage to Wernicke’s area in temporal lobe, left hemisphere.

  • Symptoms:

    • Fluent but nonsensical speech (“word salad”).

    • Poor comprehension → cannot follow simple commands (e.g., “Touch your knee”).

    • Speech sounds normal in rhythm, but lacks meaningful content.

  • Analogy:

    • Like hearing a foreign language → speech flows but meaning is lost.

<ul><li><p>Location: Damage to Wernicke’s area in temporal lobe, left hemisphere.</p></li><li><p>Symptoms:</p><ul><li><p>Fluent but nonsensical speech (“word salad”).</p></li><li><p>Poor comprehension → cannot follow simple commands (e.g., “Touch your knee”).</p></li><li><p>Speech sounds normal in rhythm, but lacks meaningful content.</p></li></ul></li><li><p>Analogy:</p><ul><li><p>Like hearing a foreign language → speech flows but meaning is lost.</p></li></ul></li></ul><p></p>
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Anomia, Alexia, Agraphia, Alexia without Agraphia

  • Anomia: Difficulty naming objects.

  • Alexia: Reading impairment (visual language).

  • Agraphia: Writing impairment.

  • Alexia without Agraphia: Can write but cannot read what they wrote.

<ul><li><p>Anomia: Difficulty naming objects.</p></li><li><p>Alexia: Reading impairment (visual language).</p></li><li><p>Agraphia: Writing impairment.</p></li><li><p>Alexia without Agraphia: Can write but cannot read what they wrote.</p></li></ul><p></p>
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Neurological Insights

  • Language is lateralized → mostly in left hemisphere.

  • Different components of language (speech, comprehension, reading, writing) are localized in separate brain regions.

  • Evidence: Specific damage leads to specific deficits (double dissociation).

Motor cortex → Frontal lobe → Controls speech muscles